The great movie ride

[esprit]

Situated inside a mock up of Graumanns Chinese theatre, this is a tribute to Hollywood and to movies past and present. Great pre-show with film clips of landmark movies recounting a history of film. The ride itself is a dark ride past audio-animatronic set pieces of various movies- from the oldies such as Singing in the Rain and the Wizard of Oz to the more recent Alien and Indiana Jones. The audio amination is interspersed with live dramatic action. You have a human guide in each car who engages in a little tomfoolery with some 'bandits', who kidnap him and then take over your car. He re-appears at a later stage in the ride to re-gain his rightful position. Some of the set pieces are quite spectacular but your appreciation of this ride really hinges on how good the actors are at involving you in the dramatic action. It is hence possible to do this ride twice and get a totally different impression each time.

Julie Carty

[athurstance]

This is one of our favourite. A good 'driver' makes all the difference though. The children love it.

[esprit]

Yes your "animator" ( if thats what they call the person who is supposed to get you going) is very important. We once went on the Movie ride with guy who must have been about 80. Honest!! He looked like one of those meeters and greeters in Walmart. Anyway when he had to do the bit where he disappears and re-appears later in the ride, we had serious doubts whether he would make it across. He did,just, but by the time he got back in the car he was red faced and puffing and panting. We were glad to get off in case he carked it there and then in our car! Other rides where your animator is important are the Safari at Animal Kingdom and Jaws at Universal. We once had a girl on Jaws who was either new/just been sacked/about to be. "Theres a shark" ( yawn yawn) If she could not get excited over what is blatantly a plastic shark, it was hard for us to be.

Julie Carty

[MMFAN]

I think we had that geriatric "animator" also. I didn't see him last time we visited though.

Some people may not realise that there are TWO different scenarios on the movie ride. I won't give them away, but you have no control which scenario you get, one group goes to the left, the other to the right. So if you want to see both, you have to keep going back.

[tinkerbell]

I never knew there were two scenarios! I hvae been to Florida 6 times and on the Great Movie Ride at least double that, and always ahd the smae one! I had never noticed that I must have always been going the same side, and I dont even know which side that is!!!

[blott]

Originally set to re-open this month, it appears that the attraction will instead be closed for refurbishment until 29 June 2003.

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

Yep - I can confirm it ws closed when we were there last week. They were also re-doing the area beneath the sorcerors hat with big swirly yellow structures - anyone any idea what this is for?

[chris]

Its probably for the 'dreams come true' which is replacing 100 years of magic that finished in March.

[sunshine state]

does anyone know when the great movie ride is supposed to be back open or is it open i dont know does anyone know.

[caroline]

The Great Movie Ride is open now - we'd not been on it before so can't say if it's changed at all, but from Julies description at the start of this thread...I suspect not!